


An Uncommon Proposal

by Entwinedlove



Series: Anomalies of Time [10]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU - Repealed Statute of Secrecy, Bucky Barnes Lives!, Bucky Barnes/Hermione Granger/Steve Rogers/Peggy Carter (mentioned), Coworkers - Freeform, Multi, Past Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Time Travel, discussions of polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-24 05:33:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17094821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Entwinedlove/pseuds/Entwinedlove
Summary: Steve confronts and comforts Hermione and later comes up with an idea he shares with Bucky. Hermione and Peggy talk.





	An Uncommon Proposal

Hermione's text was brief and to the point. Steve was tasked with checking out of the hotel and transporting the new agents back to DC. He was surprised to see it was just Bucky and Peggy when he returned. They were all quiet until they got back to the jet and Steve thought that maybe they felt as unsure about how to act as he did.

When he settled into the pilot's seat, Bucky asked with a tease, "I sure hope someone taught you how to fly a plane."

He nodded, chuckling. It was a fair point. "It mostly flies itself but yeah, I was given some instruction." He set their course, then unlatched the seat to spin it around to look at them. Bucky and Peggy were both strapped in and looked a little nervous, sitting straight-backed in their seats. He felt like a doofus but for a few moments, he just stared at them, knowing the look on his face was probably giving away his every thought. As he was looking Peggy over—she'd let her hair grow a bit—and he got to her hands, he again noticed the ring on her finger. He ducked his head, ashamed for ogling a married woman as blatantly as he was. "I've really missed you two."

"We've missed you, Steve," Peggy said. There was a smile in her voice that warmed his heart.

The console chirped and he looked back to see a message from Hermione. He skimmed it then decided to summarise it. "Hermione's initiated the Barnes Protocol, code Black. That's different."

"Barnes-Black, huh?" Bucky asked, that teasing tone still there. "Sirius would get a kick out of that. Our names hyphenated before yours and..." he trailed off and looked at Peggy.

"The Barnes Protocol was one of the first things I did at SHIELD," Peggy said. "It's for any returning agent, previously thought MIA or KIA. I assume the code Black designation is new, maybe to indicate returning via magical means? I never thought it'd be used on me, though."

Steve returned his attention to them. "Hermione was the one who initialized it for me and was my contact. Now that I've heard your story, Buck, I understand the name better. Before it just sounded sort of hopeless."

"Hope was always a part of it. If James hadn't returned, I'd have named it Rogers. Howard was going on yearly exhibitions looking for you."

"I didn't know you had hope he'd be found alive," Bucky said softly.

"I never voiced it. I mean, it's such a child's sort of fantasy, isn't it? That I didn't want to believe he had died because I hadn't seen it happen? I had the same naive hope regarding Michael at the beginning of the war."

"Michael?" Steve asked. He felt ridiculous at the spike of jealousy that passed through him. Of course, she'd had other men in her life. He wished he'd turned to check the controls of the plane, he had a feeling she could see the jealousy written on his face.

She smiled wistfully. "My brother." Her left hand curled in a nervous gesture, making her wedding band glint before she glanced at Bucky. "Steve, I—"

The console chirped again, saving him from whatever she was going to say. He looked back at the missive. "It seems that there are two apartments set up for you, one in New York and one in DC. The one in DC is—" he blinked at the number on the screen. At first, he thought it was the apartment he shared with Hermione but no, on second glance... "It looks like it'll be right next to ours. Apartment four-point-five. I suppose she made it completely with magic? That apartment didn't exist before." He looked back at them. They were looking at one another, communicating without words in a way that sent another shot of jealousy through him. He wanted that. He inhaled deeply. He had that with Hermione. He had had that with both of them too, though, and that's what hurt. He wanted it back.

"We'll take the one next to you, for now," Bucky said after a small nod from Peggy. "I'm not sure how I'll feel about coming home to New York sixty-three years in the future."

Steve nodded in understanding. "It's different. A lot more people but that's true of everywhere. Everything's more, somehow. Bigger, faster, brighter... louder."

"I'm sure we'll manage," Peggy answered.

* . * . *

Three days had passed and Steve hadn't seen hide nor hair of Hermione the entire time. He had a feeling she was coming around when he would leave for the day—whether he was spending it with Bucky and Peggy or just going to work. Finally, he decided to not leave the apartment. He camped out on the couch with the television remote and a blanket and settled in to waste the day away.

An hour and a half after he normally would have left, the door opened and in she walked. She looked tired, with dark circles under her eyes. Her clothes were wrinkled like she'd been sleeping in them. She got halfway to the bedroom before she froze, her eyes wide as she took in Steve on the couch. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I was just..." she pointed towards their bedroom door and after a beat walked the rest of the way to it, closing it behind her.

Steve sighed. He didn't know what was going on but he had a feeling. He stood and crept to the door, tapping it lightly before opening it. Hermione was packing clothes into one of her magical bags. She paused when he entered but then started again without looking up at him.

"What are you doing?" he asked softly.

She hesitated, stuffed another shirt into the bag, and then looked up at him. "I'm, umm, taking a case in Europe."

"Please don't lie to me."

"I'm not, I'm—"

"And it requires all of your clothes?"

She paused and then shrugged. "I don't know how long it'll be."

"Hermione..."

She sighed and then looked up at him. "I'm sorry, Steve. I am. I just... I love you, I do, but I'm not, this isn't... I know you're..." she looked so frazzled. She was an incredible agent, her ability to lie rivaled Natasha's sometimes, but it seemed that emotions were her weak spot.

"Then why are you running?"

Her bottom lip quivered before she bit it to try and hold herself together. He wanted to go to her, to wrap her in his arms and hold her tight. "I'm not. I know how much you love her and..."

"And she's married to my best friend, whom I also love. But I live with _you_. I asked _you_ to marry me."

Her face scrunched up and her voice came out reedy and strained like she was talking through tears in her throat, "And I said no."

He couldn't resist the urge this time. It propelled him forward and before she even let out her first sob, he was holding her. He held her as she cried, cradling her against his chest and kissed her head. He breathed in the scent of her, relished the heat of her body against his. He'd missed her. "Please don't leave me," he whispered.

After a few minutes, the worst of it had passed. "I'm an idiot," she murmured wetly. Her face was still pressed against his chest and he could feel his shirt was damp from her tears.

He pressed another kiss to her head before saying, "No, you're not. I just think you put logic ahead of your heart sometimes." She nodded. After another minute or so of just holding her, he asked, "You don't really have a case in Europe, right?"

She shook her head.

"Then let's put your clothes back, take a shower, maybe a nap, and go out for dinner with Peggy and Bucky. I think you'll like them once you get to know them."

She huffed. "I know I like Peggy. She was my mentor."

"Yes, but you haven't really got to know _this_ version. I expect she changed a bit by the time you met her the first time."

* . * . *

They ended up spending half the day with Bucky and Peggy. They wandered around the city like tourists, stopping at a few of the museums and buying an assortment of knickknacks from the gift shops.

Shortly before dinner, Steve excused himself to the restroom in one of the shops. On his way back to meet them, he stopped to people watch for a moment. One group of three caught his gaze. They were holding hands and occasionally as they walked, they would trade kisses. Steve felt captivated as he watched them.

"I think you're missing the point of a double date, Steve," Bucky said, having come to retrieve him.

Steve pointed at the triad, who were still in their own little bubble.

Bucky stepped closer and watched them, then glanced up at him. "What's going on in that head of yours?" he asked.

"Are you attracted to Hermione?"

His eyebrows shot up his forehead and he spluttered, "Wh—Umm, what? Steve, that's your girl. I, uh..."

Steve looked back at him and then back at the triad before they slipped out of sight around a corner. "I have an idea." He refocused his attention on Bucky. "But it's new and... I don't know, it might be too soon."

"Is this another one of your go-in-through-the-front-door sort of plans?"

Steve furrowed his brow.

"Yeah, I heard about that. Your reckless, suicidal tendencies are well-documented."

"No, this isn't one of those."

"Are you sure? Because I think you underestimate what a witch can do with a wand. Or what Peggy could do to my—" he cleared his throat, "well, let's just say I don't want to lose any other body parts and leave it at that."

Steve knew he was frowning at Bucky's flippancy regarding his left arm but he couldn't help himself. He briefly wondered if Stark had any interest in making prosthetics. "I'm not suggesting either of us cheat, Buck."

"Then what are you suggesting?"

"We all... all four of us... in a relationship together."

"Like... wife-swapping?"

He raised his eyebrows in a challenge. "Homosexuality isn't a crime now," he said and was rewarded with Bucky grinning and ducking his head, his cheeks turning a light pink. "When I tell you I love you and missed you, I mean it."

"Do you think it's enough?"

"I think it'd be worth it to try." Steve breathed deep and looked down at the worn concrete under his feet. He scuffed his sole against the ground and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I'm being selfish, aren't I?"

"Maybe, but you're allowed," Bucky said, bumping his right shoulder into Steve's left. "You died for your country. They can't ask anything else of you." Steve looked back up at him, meeting his gaze. "You did clear things up with Hermione, though, right? I don't know if bringing this sort of thing up while the both of you are all tender from misunderstandings is the best way to go about it."

"Yeah. We're all right, I think. When did you get so..."

"Wise?"

Steve snorted in amusement and pulled his hands out of his pockets.

Bucky shrugged. "You're a punk, you know that, right?"

"Jerk," Steve returned affectionately. He reached down and squeezed Bucky's hand. "So what you're saying is, I'm probably the one better suited to bringing it up to Peggy and Hermione, huh?"

"Oh, yeah," Bucky said, swinging their clasped hands between them as they started walking back to the women. "If they freak out, you're more durable _and_ we can just fall back on your I-don't-know-how-to-talk-to-women thing." They both laughed.

* . * . *

Hermione did not immediately balk at the idea of polyamory when Steve brought it up but she did have some reservations about it. So she did what she'd always done when faced with an unknown and an obstacle. She researched it.

And once she had plenty of facts, she sought out advice. In the past, she might have gone to Professor McGonagall or Peggy, as her mentor. Now, though, she sought out Peggy because she was also part of the situation.

"It's not that I don't think it could work, there are examples of polyamorous relationships that do. It's just, I don't know if it will work for _us_ ," she said.

Peggy smiled and nodded, seeming to think over what she wanted to say before saying it. "The serum enhanced every part of Steve. Not just his body, his mind, or his senses but his emotions as well. I have no doubt that he loves all three of us." She paused to gauge Hermione's reaction. "I have no doubts it's possible to love three people because I don't have the serum and I love two. James is in the same position. Despite the fact that to us he died five years ago, we still love him."

"Were you three together during the war?" Hermione asked.

"No. I don't know if it ever crossed their minds. I didn't have feelings for James for... years after the war."

"But what if I... can't—or don't want to—I mean, I'm older than you now and I still see you as a mentor and it's weird and I don't..." Hermione shook her head. She might as well come out and say her problem. If she couldn't communicate this simple thing then any further relationship with any of them might be doomed. "I'm not attracted to women. Are you bisexual? I had no idea that Steve was and, I mean, I have a lot of questions about that. Would we all... together, every time? Would we split off into couples?"

Peggy laughed and shook her head, "Slow down, slow down. First, I am also attracted to women. After the war, I was in a relationship with a woman named Angie for a time. That doesn't mean you and I have to do anything sexual, though. If you'd rather have girls' night where we drink wine and paint one another's nails and go see a film while the other two are otherwise occupied that's fine." She glanced down. "I don't think he was suggesting immediately falling into anyone else's bed beside the one we're each currently in. And no, I don't think we'd all have sex together at all unless we were all comfortable with that." She looked back up to Hermione. "What do you think? Did that help alleviate any of your worries? Are you still uncomfortable?"

Hermione took a deep breath and thought about it, letting her shoulders sag back into the armchair where she was sitting. "So... close friendship with romantic undertones with no expectations of sex unless we agree to it. That does make it sound much less... taboo and unknown."

"I understand your fears regarding it. While James and I only have to worry about getting to know and possibly learning to love you, you're in a much more difficult position. Steve probably didn't suggest it at the best time as it probably feels like he wants to bring two strangers into your relationship and your bed. Sometimes his through-the-front door strategies aren't the best, at least not when it comes to women. I think he might have done well to wait to see how well the four of us get along before suggesting a relationship like this but what's done is done."

Hermione nodded and then grinned. "Why don't we have one of those girl nights tonight? I've got a book of spells for pampering that I received last year and never had a chance to play with. I mean, if you're okay with magic?"

Peggy smiled. "I've only really seen Apparition and some basics. Getting to see that side of magic might be fun."


End file.
